Assault weapons cited in only a very few slayings

The FBI reported 11,961 murders in 2014, 8,124 by firearms, most illegally obtained or used by someone not legally possessing them -- laws broken that failed to protect victims.

Of those, 5,562 murders included handguns, not hunting weapons. Shotguns, a common hunting weapon that Vice President Joe Biden recommends for protection, were used in just 262 murders.

Weapons no one is suggesting regulating, like knives, were used in 1,567 murders. Clubs and hammers in 435, hands, feet and fists of people considered "unarmed" were used in 660.

Poison: seven. Explosives: six. Drowning: 14. Strangulation: 89. Others added to small numbers. All are down from years past.

Interestingly "assault" weapons, used heavily by hunters whose definition seems to be "how much it makes liberals scream" instead of something meaningful, accounted for 248 murders. That includes all rifles, many of which are single-shot bolt action.

Which begs the question: Why are liberals fixated on a murder weapon accounting for so few murders? Criminals weapon of choice is by far the pistol. It is also the best legal personal self-defense weapon, especially for a 100-pound woman in a home invasion by a 250-pound rapist armed, or "unarmed" except for his fists, or a knife. No records are kept for lives saved, but the number is high!

The real question is why liberals want to disarm potential victims? Is it a war on women?

David R. Kraner

Bradenton

This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Assault weapons cited in only a very few slayings ."